Antirattling thill-coupling.



No. 648,504. Patented May I, I900.v

G. W. LESTER.

ANTIRATTLING THILL COUPLING (Application filed Mar. 8, 1900.) 1(NoModeL) wo lO 15 J0 "M9 12 q .111411! 7 V E & ]6 I I r b J 6 a NITEDSTATES PATENT GEORGE w. LESTER, OF RACINE, wISooNSIN, ASSIGNOR OFONE-HALE To EVERETT LESTER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ANTIRATTLING THILL-COUPLING;

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 648,504, dated May1900.

7 Application filed March 8} 1900. Serial No. 75784. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may oonrit':

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. LESTER, of Racine, in the county of Racineand State of \Visconsin, have invented a new and useful Improvement inAntirattling Thill- Coup-- lings, of which the following is adescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which area part of this specification.

The object of myinvention is to provide improved means whereby thillsmay be readily attached to and detached from the runninggear of avehicle and as incidental thereto to prevent the rattling of the parts.

The invention consists of the devices and their combinations, as hereindescribed and claimed, or the equivalents thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of a thill-couplingembodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the samethillcoupling. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the improvedthill-coupling on line 3 3 of Fig.1.

In the drawings, 5 is the socket-plate, preferably made of metal andadapted to be placed against the under side of an axle, particularly asteel axle, and secured thereto by means of a clip passing around theaxle and the ends of which extend through apertures 6 6 therefor in theplate. The means suggested for securing the socket-plate to the axle arenot shown, but are such as are of common construction and form no partof my invention. The socket-plate is provided at its front extremitywith a socket in which the thill iron 7 is pivoted. The socket in thesocket-plate is formed by opposite forwardly-projecting socket-walls 89. The wall 8 is rigid to and preferably integral with the body of theplate 5. The socket-wall 9 is hinged to the body of the plate 5 at itsrear extremity by a pivotpin 10, whereby it is adapted to be swunglaterally when desired. The socket-wall Sis provided with a rigidcoupling-pin 11, projecting from the inside of thesocket-wall across thesocket and into an aperture there for in the Socket-wall 9. When thesocketwall 9 is swung outwardly away from the coupling-pin 11, thethill-iron 7, which is provided with a head 12, bored transversely, canbe slipped onto or removed from the coupling-pin 11. A pair of thesesocket-plates being secured to the axle of the vehicle at suit abledistances apart are adapted to take there in the thill-irons on the rearextremity of a pair of thiils. These thill-irons may be used also on thecross-bar of a tongue for a vehi ole with which a pair of horses are tobe employed.

For drawing the swinging socket-wall 9 to place on the end of thecoupling-pin 11 and against the thill-iron 7 a link 13, convenientlymade of heavy strong wire, is hinged on the socket-wall 9 a little infront of the pivot-pin 10 and extends therefrom across the socket andlaterally beyond the socket-plate 8 and is provided with a locking-cam14, which is conveniently in the form of a lever. The link 13 isconveniently made in U shape, the extremities of the legs being coiled,and thereby pivoted on a pin 15 transversely through the socket-plate 9,and the cross-bar or bend of the link forms a pivot on which thelevercam 14: is mounted and swings. The cam 14 is advisably somewhat insegmental or curved form at its inner end, and this end or edge isadapted to contact withand bear on the surface ofthe socket-wall 8, andthereby to draw the socket-wall 9 firmly down against the opposite sideof the thill-iron 7. By swinging the cam l t so as to disengage it fromthe socket-wall 8 the socket-wall 9 is thereby released and can be swungaway from the thilliron and the coupling-pin ll sufficiently to permitof the removal of the thill iron 7.

To prevent rattling of the parts, a substantially-flat steel spring 16is coiled at one end about and is thereby hinged on one leg of the link13 and extends across the socketaperture downwardly and rests at itsother extremity against the other leg of the link 13. The link 13 is soconstructed and disposed that the spring 16 thus mounted on one leg ofthe link and bearing against the other leg of the link bears alsomedially against the rear side of the head 12 of the thill-iron 7 whenthe thill-iron is in position in the socket-plate, as shown in Figs. 1and 3. This construct-ion and disposition of the parts prevent rattlingthereof when in use. Shoulders 17 17 on the upper and lower edge,respectively, of the socket-wall 8 are adapted to receive the legs ofthe link 13 against them and prevent the free extremity of the link fromswinging rearwardly beyond these shoulders.-

What I claim as my invention is 1. I11 combination, a socket-plateprovided with a rigid and .a hinged socket-wall oppo-r site each other,one of the socket-walls being provided with a con pling-pinprojectingtherefrom across the socket into the opposite socket-wall, a linkpivoted to one of the socketwalls and extending across the'socket andbeyond the opposite socket-wall, a cam pivoted wall and lock theswinging socket-wall releasably in place, and a thill-iron hinged be-.tween the socket-walls, on the coupling-pin.

3. In combination, a socket-plate provided with a rigid: and a hingedsocket-wall opposite each other, one of the socket-walls being providedwith a coupling-pin projecting therefrom across the socket into theopposite socket-wall, a link pivoted to one of the socketwalls andextending across the socket and be,- yond the opposite socket-wall,shoulders on the socket-wall beyond which wall the link extends, saidshoulders being adapted to receive against them the legs of said linkand prevent it from swinging beyond them, a cam pivoted on the freeextremity of the link adapted to bear against the adjacent socketwalland lock the swinging socket-wall releasably in place, a thill-ironhinged between .the socket-walls on the coupling-pin, and a springsecured to one leg of said link and bearing against the other leg of thelink and medially bearing oppositely against the thilliron preventingrattling of the parts.

yond the opposite socket-Wall, shoulders on the socket-wall beyond whichwall the link extends said shoulders being adapted to re-' ceive againstthem the legs of said link and prevent it from swinging beyond them, acam pivoted on the free extremity of the link adapted to bear againstthe adjacent socket- In testimony whereof I affix my signature inpresence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. LESTER.

Witnesses:

W. J. WEINECK, WM. HENRY MILLER.

